The next in line could be a young star named DJ Z. He’s back in town for a show this weekend, but his rise was nearly derailed by medical problems that he now calls “a blessing.”

The story of pro wrestler DJ Z is unconventional from the very start.

“My mom was working in a sweatshop in Singapore; she would do whatever it took. My dad ordered my mom out of a catalog, and my mom was a mail-order bride,” says DJ Z. “To me, it shows how brave my mom was and how bad she wanted to come to this country.”

He grew up in West Virginia’s northern panhandle and got his start in the ring in Pittsburgh at the age of 16. Wrestling took him around the world.